Mobile communication devices, such as cellular phones and tablets, may connect to a variety of different networks to acquire voice and data service. A mobile communication device may connect to a network access point to gain access to communication networks. Network access points (access points) are devices that facilitate a wired or wireless connection between devices and a wider network such as the Internet. For example, mobile communication devices may connect to a WiFi® hotspot access point in order to connect to the Internet. access points may include personal access points located within a home, enterprise access points for providing access to an enterprise network (e.g., an internal business network), and public access points for use by the general public (e.g., library, airport, or coffee shop hotspots).
As the popularity of network access points increases, so has the risk of encountering rogue access points. Rogue access points are access points that masquerade as legitimate access points but are controlled by a malicious entity or person. Rogue access points usually masquerade as trusted access points to trick a user into connecting to the rogue access point, for example by using an access point name that resembles a trusted access point name. When a user on a mobile communication device connects to a rogue access point, the rogue access point may be able to obtain personal information from the user (e.g., keystrokes, credit card information, login credentials), redirect uniform resource locator (URL) requests from the mobile communication device, install malware, and/or take other negative actions that harm the mobile communication device or the user. The user may not realize that the computing device is connected to a rogue access point for a long time. Software or applications that can be used to detect rogue access points usually require the mobile communication device to connect to the rogue access point first. This means that the mobile communication device, and especially the high level operating system and applications, are exposed to the rogue access point for some time before the rogue access point is detected and the connection severed. In addition, monitoring for rogue access points may consume a significant amount of battery power of a mobile communication device.